“We are surprised and disappointed with the NCAA’s decision,” said Gene Smith, Ohio State’s Athletics Director and Associate Vice President. “However, we have decided not to appeal the decision because we need to move forward as an institution. We recognize that this is a challenging time in intercollegiate athletics. Institutions of higher education must move to higher ground, and Ohio State embraces its leadership responsibilities and affirms its long-standing commitment to excellence in education and integrity in all it does.

“My primary concern, as always, is for our students, and this decision punishes future students for the actions of others in the past,” said Smith. “Knowing our student-athletes, however, I have no doubt in their capacity to turn this into something positive – for themselves and for the institution. I am grateful to our entire Buckeye community for their continued support.”

“All of us at Ohio State are determined to ensure that our compliance programs and protocols are best in class,” said Smith. “We will assume a leadership role in representing our university and its values.

“It is important to remember that Ohio State has one of the nation’s largest self supporting athletics programs, with students succeeding both in competition and in the classroom,” said Smith. “We have more than 1,000 students who compete in 36 intercollegiate sports, and the overall grade-point average of our student-athletes is just over 3.0. During the last two years, the University has had more student-athletes named to the Academic All-Big Ten Team than any other school. Further, Ohio State finished second in last year’s Directors’ Cup, which recognizes the best athletics programs in the country.”

Statement from Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer:

“I agreed to become the Head Football Coach at The Ohio State University because Shelley and I are Ohio natives, I am a graduate of this wonderful institution and served in this program under a great coach. I understand the academic and athletic traditions here and will give great effort to continue those traditions.

“It is still my goal to hire excellent coaches, recruit great student-athletes who want to be a part of this program and to win on and off the field. The NCAA penalties will serve as a reminder that the college experience does not include the behavior that led to these penalties. I expect all of us to work hard to teach and develop young student-athletes to grow responsibly and to become productive citizens in their communities upon graduation.”

Urban Meyer may have high hopes for his first season at Ohio State in 2012, but his team's first appearance in the postseason is going to have to wait until 2013 at the earliest. Ohio State has been given a one-year postseason ban, effective next year, by the NCAA. The NCAA also found Ohio State's offer of giving up five scholarships over three years inadequate, and will require that the Buckeyes give up a total of nine scholarships over that period instead.

The sanctions stem from a litany of NCAA violations committed by various Buckeyes and ousted head coach Jim Tressel. Terrelle Pryor was one of the worst offenders, repeatedly receiving impermissible benefits and allegedly participating in a system where he traded signed memorabilia for free tattoos, and DeVier Posey was suspended for a total of 10 games in 2011 for multiple instances of receiving impermissible benefits.

Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith had said previously that he didn't anticipate a bowl ban for Ohio State, and Meyer told reporters after being hired that he had received "extremely positive feedback" about OSU's prospects before the NCAA.

Tressel was also given a five-year show-cause penalty by the NCAA. The "show-cause" label means that the NCAA considers Tressel a serious offender, and any NCAA school interested in employing Tressel must show why it does not deserve sanctions for doing so. The five-year sanction effectively ends Tressel's coaching career in the collegiate ranks.

Tressel's decision not to inform the NCAA of the violations once he learned of them played heavily into the decision to hit him with such a heavy penalty.

"Of great concern to the committee was the fact that the former head coach became aware of these violations and decided not to report the violations to institutional officials, the Big Ten Conference or the NCAA," the NCAA said in its report.

Tressel is now a game-day consultant for the Indianapolis Colts in the NFL.

“We are surprised and disappointed with the NCAA’s decision,” said Smith. “However, we have decided not to appeal the decision because we need to move forward as an institution. We recognize that this is a challenging time in intercollegiate athletics. Institutions of higher education must move to higher ground, and Ohio State embraces its leadership responsibilities and affirms its long-standing commitment to excellence in education and integrity in all it does.

“My primary concern, as always, is for our students, and this decision punishes future students for the actions of others in the past,” said Smith. “Knowing our student-athletes, however, I have no doubt in their capacity to turn this into something positive – for themselves and for the institution. I am grateful to our entire Buckeye community for their continued support.”

Urban Meyer also released a statement that was even more forward-looking than Smith's.

“I agreed to become the Head Football Coach at The Ohio State University because Shelley and I are Ohio natives, I am a graduate of this wonderful institution and served in this program under a great coach. I understand the academic and athletic traditions here and will give great effort to continue those traditions.

“It is still my goal to hire excellent coaches, recruit great student-athletes who want to be a part of this program and to win on and off the field. The NCAA penalties will serve as a reminder that the college experience does not include the behavior that led to these penalties. I expect all of us to work hard to teach and develop young student-athletes to grow responsibly and to become productive citizens in their communities upon graduation.”

While the news has been official for a few days now, North Carolina was proud to tie up their loose ends and announce former Southern Miss head coach Larry Fedora as their next football coach.

On Friday morning the Board of Trustees approved a seven-year deal with Fedora earning more than $1.7 million annually, with more bonuses for division or conference championships as well as high graduation rates. With the specifics settled, Fedora was officially introduced to the media in a press conference on Friday afternoon.

"Today is the first day in a new era of UNC football," Fedora said as he took the podium for the first time. "It's going to be exciting. You better buckle your seat belts and hold on, because it's going to be a wild ride"

The last two seasons have already been a wild ride for North Carolina football, under the cloud of an NCAA investigation into the football program that began in the Summer of 2010.

Fedora steps into the position with a two-year probation and scholarship reductions already self-imposed by the school, and possibly more sanctions coming from the NCAA in the coming weeks. The scandal, especially the dismissal of head coach Butch Davis just days before the opening of training camp for the 2011 season, has divided the North Carolina football fan base over the last few months. The idea of unifying the North Carolina fans was mentioned by Chancellor Holden Thorp, new athletic director Bubba Cunningham, and driven home by Fedora himself. He described the "UNC brand" as being recognized nationwide, and needed the support of "everyone who bleeds Carolina blue" to build a successful program.

Fedora was fiery and energetic throughout his first meeting with the North Carolina media. While he has no experience recruiting in the area, he pointed to his wife as an example of what kind of recruiter he is - even using the expression "I out-kicked my coverage" The off-field troubles and discontent within the fan base resulted in some disappointing attendance during the 2011 season, and Fedora offered a message for the fans.

"We need our students and fans to make game day an unbelievable experience in Chapel Hill," Fedora exclaimed. "We need you to pack Kenan Stadium, we need to be here early, and we need you to stay late. You need to understand, if you get up to get a drink - you just missed a Tar Heel touchdown."

Fedora's arrival brings arguably the most dramatic on-field change to North Carolina football in more than a decade. The former Oklahoma State offensive coordinator plans to make North Carolina's offense a no-huddle, single back spread. He said he plans to sit in on every offensive meeting, and joked that the plays that work will be the ones that he had called. Defensively, he plans to use multiple looks as well as disguised blitzes and coverages. Fedora promised the fans a unit that will be known for "flying to the ball" and "knocking the tar out of people."

He acknowledged the adversity the team has overcome already, and credited interim head coach Everett Withers for leading North Carolina to their fourth consecutive bowl appearance. No decisions have been made regarding Fedora's staff, but he indicated that both members of his staff at Southern Miss and currently in Chapel Hill will be considered.

Fedora also plans to coach the Golden Eagles in the Hawaii Bowl on Dec. 24, his final game with the Conference USA Champions.

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In October the NCAA concluded its investigation of Cam Newton and his recruitment to Auburnwithout finding any major violations. The result of this announcement was that Auburn fans could stop worrying that they'd one day have their BCS title stripped from them and that the school would also suffer further punishments.

Though just because there were no major violations found, that doesn't mean the school didn't come close to losing Newton a couple of times last season.

Auburn released documents on Friday between the school and the NCAA regarding the Newton investigation as part of the Freedom of Information Act. What they document is that Auburn was nearly forced to sit Newton out twice last season -- before the Georgia game and SEC Championship -- but that the school successfully defended Newton both times by saying he had no knowledge of any contact between his father Cecil Newton and Kenny Rogers.

The documents also included a letter from Auburn sent to the NCAA.

"Despite numerous media reports suggesting Newton himself engaged in wrongdoing, the facts clearly demonstrate Newton has done nothingwrong," Auburn told the NCAA. "Auburn had no contact with Rogers during the recruitment of Newton. Auburn was in no way involved in offering or considering an offer of any recruitment inducement."

Cecil Newton has already admitted that he asked Rogers, a former Mississippi State player, to try and get money from Mississippi State when it was recruiting his son, but that no money ever changed hands and there was never a similar deal agreed to or even asked of Auburn.

Though the documents that were released on Friday show that there was plenty of contact between Cecil Newton and Rogers, as the two exchanged 275 phone calls during Cam Newton's recruitment at Mississippi State.

The NCAA announced on Friday that four Ohio State football players were to be suspended for accepting improper benefits from boosters. The players are DeVier Posey, Dan Herron, Marcus Hall and Daniel Fellow.

"Ohio State University football student-athlete Devier Posey must sit five games and repay benefits after receiving approximately $720 from a booster for work not performed, according to a decision today by the NCAA student-athlete reinstatement staff," said the statement on the NCAA website. "Posey also accepted approximately $100 in golf fees from another individual, which is a preferential treatment violation.

"Three additional Ohio State football student-athletes – Marcus Hall, Melvin Fellows and Daniel Herron – will miss one game and must repay benefits after receiving pay for work not performed from the booster. Herron and Fellows both accepted approximately $290 in excess pay while Hall received $230 in overpayment. In its decision, the staff noted the overpayment occurred over an extended period of time."

As you'll likely recall, both Posey and Herron were already serving suspensions due to benefits they already received, including free tattoos, that caused Ohio State to vacate its entire 2010 season. These new suspensions will be added on to those old suspensions, so for DeVier Posey, that means he'll be forced to sit out 10 of Ohio State's 12 regular season games this year.

"This penalty is harsh considering the nature of the violation and the five game suspension already served by this student athlete," said Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith regarding Posey's latest suspension.

He's right, too, the penalty is harsh, but that's what happens when you're a repeat offender: the punishment gets worse. You'd think the poster child for compliance would know that.

Ohio State has now played five games this season, which means that the suspensions that players like Mike Adams, Solomon Thomas, Dan Herron and DeVier Posey for their involvement in Tattoogate is over. However, that doesn't mean that every single one of them will be able to play when the Buckeyes take on Nebraska on Saturday.

A separate probe by the NCAA into Herron and Posey apparently showed they may have received improper benefits in terms of alleged inflated remuneration while working summer jobs in the Cleveland area. It could mean at least one more game of suspension for Herron, for whom the benefits was said to be in the $200 to $400 range, and perhaps multiple games for Posey, for whom the benefit was said to be about $500.

Sources said both refuted the charges. Herron, a source said, produced evidence that he thought showed he had received no improper benefit.

The NCAA started a separate probe into Herron and Posey earlier this season while looking into the benefits Jordan Hall, Travis Howard and Corey Brown received from booster Robert DiGeronimo for attending a charity event. Those three were all suspended for the first two games of the season for accepting $200 from DiGeronimo.

Ohio State is scheduled to make an announcement at 3:30pm Eastern on Monday.

If Herron and Posey can't play this weekend against Nebraska, it would be a big blow to the Buckeyes. The Ohio State offense has been pretty dreadful this season, so getting two playmakers like Herron and Posey back would be a nice boost.

Both Mike Adams and Solomon Thomas are expected to be cleared to play.

“This notice has been anticipated and is simply the next stage of the process,” said Oregon athletic director Rob Mullens in the statement. “The University of Oregon football program, from Head Coach Chip Kelly through the entire organization, has tremendous respect for the NCAA’s important role in monitoring collegiate athletics and, to this end, continues to fully cooperate with the NCAA ‘s ongoing examination.

“The Athletic Department, Coach Kelly and the entire staff remain committed to operating the athletics program consistent with the highest standards and ensuring our program follows best practices.”

While Oregon wouldn't get into details in the release, this is related to the school's connection to Willie Lyles and his scouting service. Oregon originally paid Lyles $25,000 for scouting reports on high school recruits that was reportedly two years old at the time. Some have speculated that rather than pay for Lyles' scouting reports, Oregon was paying Lyles for his influence with recruits like LaMichael James and Lache Seastrunk.

As for what this Letter of Inquiry means for Oregon at the moment, the truth is not much. At least, not yet. It's merely the NCAA's way of letting a school know that it has begun investigating the school.

Honestly, if the news in America was done the same way that the news is done in Taiwan, specifically the NWA World Edition, then I'd probably be a lot more up to speed on current events.

Of course, from time to time, NWA World Edition does a story on something I'm already familiar with, and this is one of those times. I now present to you the Nevin Shapiro/Miami saga in computer-animated form.